Exhumation begins for unidentified remains from USS Oklahoma

HONOLULU (AP) - Officials are starting to exhume the unidentified remains of USS Oklahoma crew members killed in the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific spokesman Gene Maestas says four caskets were dug up last week and six this week.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced the exhumation in April. It says advances in forensic science and genealogical help from families make it possible to identify remains nearly 75 years after the attack.

Maestas says officials expect to disinter 61 caskets at 45 grave sites at the Honolulu cemetery. These graves contain the remains of up to 388 Oklahoma sailors and Marines currently classified as missing.

Altogether, 429 on board the World War II battleship were killed. Only 35 were identified in the years immediately after.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.